With the clamour for speeding up cases of crimes against women,Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi along with other CMs on Sunday batted for setting up more fast-track courts and sought central assistance,which was discontinued a few years ago.

In fact,several chief ministers also pointed out that their states had discontinued fast-track courts (FTCs),which had disposed of significant number of cases,after the central assistance was withdrawn two years back.

The chief ministers were speaking at the conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices of High Courts.

I request the Union government to rethink the reestablishment of the system of FTCs and increase the financial allocation for the same, Modi said. He said Gujarat had initiated 166 FTCs which had disposed of nearly four lakh cases. Saying that the policies concerning the judicial system should be envisaged with a long-term perspective,Modi attacked the Centre for not waiting for the fruits of the FTC system to be delivered.

Such short term vision and frequent changes in policy create a lack of faith in the system, he said.

The speech of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav,which was read in absentia,said after the Centre withdrew assistance for FTCs,the state government did not think it appropriate to re-establish them. He said even though the state government was keen to set up special courts to try cases related to murder,rape and issues related to children and the elderly,it had limited resources to support them.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda reiterated the demand for a separate High Court for Haryana. Asserting that a separate High Court was Haryanas constitutional right,Hooda said it would not only fulfil the aspirations of people of Haryana but also strengthen the judicial system in the state. Keeping in view the increased number of litigations originating from Haryana,he also suggested the change in the ratio of judges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court from the current 60:40 to 50:50 between the two states.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said 83 FTCs were functioning in his state with central assistance. Despite the Centre withdrawing funds for the scheme,43 FTCs were run till November 2012 to dispose of pending cases with expenses being borne by the state government.